We, artists, interact with each other on a daily basis, either in text or call (or both). It genuinely disgusts me to see how disrespectful and immature some people allow themselves to act online, to act with my friends.
I understand when someone doesn’t like a design, ship, art style or interpretation etc. Like, my gosh, I really wish I could erase my memory of the jetpack-windbag from the official “600 Strike” animation, or Odysseus’ red eyes in the song “Odysseus”, those visuals are JORGE’s ideas and NOT the artist’s who he commissioned, or that Jorge decided to add the mention of SA in “Hold Them Down”, while it was not in the original source, or the way he portays Calypso. (Yet people complain when artists don’t stay “canon”) Yes, Jorge took plenty of artistic liberties while writing this musical. And that is completely OK. Do I go around talk shit about him, spread dreadful misinformation about him, label him as a bad person because I don’t specifically like these changes? No. I still appreciate the hard work he put into the songs, the music, the thoughts behind them, and I accept the way he sees the songs, or I come up with sensible and respectful arguments/constructive critisism why I don’t like something. Or simply accept that it’s not my cup of tea and don’t interact with it to get rid of content I dislike.
Not like those who talk hateful about artists who make their own interpretation of the songs, or when they create something original they get told to go back and work on EPIC content. Or like those who are hateful towards Stories from Styx, because they had expected a second EPIC, while Casper emphasized SEVERAL TIMES that it will NOT be like Jorge’s creation. SfS is a completely different genre, which requires different type of voices, different instruments, different techniques of singing, plus it is the first musical our dear friend Casper ever wrote. And did he use the same artists who Jorge used? Yes, BECAUSE we are NOT “EPIC artists” who are Jorge’s property, we are all individuals who can join and leave, and create in any fandom/topic we want. It’s as if these people had said “How dare Robert Downey Jr. play Sherlock Holmes in the movies, he is a Marvel actor”. But I, and many other artists, have talked about this already enough. And guess what? Even though I loved working with Jorge, I enjoyed working with Casper more. Wild? Not really.
Casper showed he cares about the artists he commissioned. He made us a place where we can interact and help each other too, which made work so much less stressful. He cares so much he is even trying to help us dissolve this hate that reaches some of us, artists. Ryan’s advice about the algorythm and “block the hateful people and move on” is good. Correct, that really is how the algorythm works. But it misses the whole point why we reached out in the first place.
He can talk about community management, but it is not the SfS fandom that is full of immature and toxic people, who I question if they have ever been in fandoms. It is the EPIC fandom. And just like any other fandoms, it will have dark sides, people in the fandom WILL USE dark topics to create fan made content. And for many people it is a coping mechanism. (See sharpwolf ship. Those people who write about this toxic relationship, while themselves are victims, it’s like vent art for them. Helps them understand their own emotions. And also, not every Telemachus x Antinous work is connected to EPIC, keep that in mind. Greek mythology exists outside EPIC)
It just seems that a large part of the EPIC fandom loves the musical. But not the artists, writers, other creators who technically made it popular, those who technically carry the musical on their backs to the top with their fan (or even official) work… And those who could change that, those whose words would be listened to (not just heard), they step back and watch.
But that’s okay. Block those who hate and move on. Right?
Now here’s a fact. If the self entitled kids who spread hate don’t get regulated by someone who they most likely would actually listen to (*glances at the creator of EPIC*), artist will take the advice and will move on. Completely. Because of these people we started loosing enthusiasm over creating EPIC content.
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